From The Start
by KitsuneButterfly
Summary: AU Hellsing. Oneshot. What if Integra had been much younger when her father died? What if Alucard had never been locked away? Based heavily on a dream. AxI if you care to squint.


This is an AU Hellsing story that started as a really weird dream. Oneshot. AxI if you squint.

* * *

"What's wrong with daddy?" asked five year-old Integra to her companion, a child of ambiguous gender with long black hair and bright red eyes.

"Master is ill," said the child as it stacked Integra's building blocks to form the structure of a grand castle.

"Oh," said Integra as she handed the other child more blocks; it was running out. "Will he get better?"

The other child only shrugged and continued building its castle.

After watching her companion build the castle for a while, Integra stood. "Alucard, will you come with me to see daddy?"

The other child nodded and stood to follow Integra.

-x-x-x-x-x-

It wasn't long after her sixth birthday that Integra's father passed. While she loved her father, Integra found it hard to mourn him. She had been mostly raised by Walter and Alucard because her father was always busy working. She and her father had always been detached from one another.

The day following her father's funeral, Richard took Integra a corporate building in the city. There were a few times that her father had brought her here when he had meetings, so the idea of going wasn't all that unfamiliar to the young Hellsing. Uncle Richard had a meeting and, like her father had done, dropped her off at the building's small daycare facilities.

The woman running the daycare that day was a pretty young strawberry blonde woman. Ingetra thought she looked awfully nervous about something as she introduced herself. Her name was Miss Peachtree and she usually worked as a kindergarten teacher, but because it was the summer holidays, she was working part-time at the daycare.

Miss Peachtree glanced at the clock often while she was watching Integra. She also fidgeted a lot.

"Is something wrong, Miss Peachtree?" asked Integra curiously as she colored in a coloring book to pass the time.

Miss Peachtree shook her head, but Integra was not convinced. Before Integra could comment further, Miss Peachtree took out a backpack and a change of clothes for a child Integra's size.

"Integra, we're going to play a little game. We're going to be soldiers on a secret mission," said Miss Peachtree as she filled the backpack with bottles of water and snacks. Integra also noticed that the woman put a bit of money in the backpack as well. "You need to put on these clothes," she held out the change of clothes, which consisted of a black t-shirt and a pair of child's jeans, "and take this backpack. Your mission is to sneak down to the first floor where my coworker will be waiting for you. He'll take you to the ice cream parlor down the street and then you'll be back before your uncle gets out of his meeting. Is that a good plan, Integra?"

Integra nodded. It did sound like a fun game. And she would get ice cream. That was always a plus in a six-year-old's book.

"Good. Now, no matter what you hear happening up here, keep going. Your mission depends on it. My coworker will answer to the codename Gray Otter. He's a large, pudgy man with a nice smile. He'll be waiting by the front door. Now, hurry and get changed; we need to start the game soon if you want to be back here on time."

Integra nodded again and took the clothes from Miss Peachtree. Once she had removed her old ones, Miss Peachtree packed them in the backpack.

"Now, Integra, one more thing," said Miss Peachtree as she produced a hat from one of the boxes in the daycare room. She piled Integra's already-long blond locks atop the little girl's head and set the cap over them, making Integra look like a young boy. "Go on, Gray Otter will be waiting for you. And don't forget, you have to sneak carefully," she said as she gave Integra a gentle shove out the door.

Integra was half-way down the first flight of stairs when she heard the gunfire. Frightened, she raced somewhat clumsily down the rest of the stairs before resting on the landing. "It was probably just Miss Peachtree playing part of a war movie to make the game seem more real," she reasoned as she started down the next flight of stairs.

She made it all the way to the first floor without incident. As she exited the stairway, Integra noticed the large, roly-poly old man with a walrus-like mustache in street clothes and a trench coat. "Are you Gray Otter?" she inquired as she walked up to the old man.

The old man smiled kindly and nodded. "You must be Miss Hellsing. Let's get going," he said as he took her hand.

The pair walked together to the ice cream parlor a few buildings down the street.

"What flavor would you like, Miss Hellsing?" he inquired as he handed her the colorful menu.

Integra studied the pictures on the menu before selecting chocolate-chip cookie dough ice cream.

"Good choice," chuckled Gray Otter before selecting a hot fudge sundae for himself.

Once their treats were delivered and they had both taken a few bites, Gray Otter paused in his eating.

"Miss Hellsing, I'm going to be honest with you."

Integra looked up at her new friend curiously.

"This isn't just a game. Today your uncle had arranged for you to be assassinated in Morgan's care. She was going to be the one to take the blame for it all and be charged as a murderer. Morgan got wind of this and arranged for me to take you and guard you, to keep both you and her safe."

"But, my uncle would never…" protested Integra.

"He would," said Gray Otter with narrowed eyes. "He's a power-hungry scumbag," growled the man.

Integra took a moment to think about Gray Otter's words. Ever since her father had died, her uncle had been acting stranger than usual. She decided that she would trust the old man.

"What am I supposed to do?" inquired Integra.

"Should anything happen to me, run. Run far away from here. You're not safe in this city or any of those surrounding it. You should have money in your pack. You can take a cab."

Integra nodded solemnly and continued to eat her ice cream. "Thank you, Gray Otter," she said softly between bites.

"No problem," said the old man with a smile.

When the two were almost finished with their ice cream, the door to the ice cream parlor burst open and a few of Richard's men filed in.

"You!" called one of them, pointing at Gray Otter and Integra.

Faster than Integra thought possible for a man of Gray Otter's age and girth, the man was on his feet with guns drawn, shielding Integra.

"Run," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Integra.

And run the young Hellsing did. She didn't even look back as gunfire erupted in the ice cream parlor. She made a mental note to ask Walter if Gray Otter could have a hero's funeral if he didn't make it out alive. He was a brave old man.

She was five blocks away when she paused to rest behind a dumpster in a small alley.

"What am I going to do?" Integra wondered aloud. "I can't go home. I can't be found." She sighed and sat down on the grimy pavement.

Minutes later, Integra looked up as something large and black barreled into the alley.

Integra bit back a scream as the large black dog skid to a halt in front of her. It studied her with its red eyes—red eyes that didn't frighten Integra because her favorite playmate had similar-colored eyes—before cocking its head to the side and letting its tongue loll out the opposite side as it panted.

"Hey, where'd that dog go?" came a curious voice from just outside the alley. The voice belonged to a child, presumably female by the somewhat high pitch.

"Maybe he went that way," said another voice, this one also belonging to a child but male.

Two figures, still small enough to be children but much taller than Integra, walked into the alley.

"Here doggy, doggy," said the girl. She looked to be about twelve, as did her male companion. Her hair was long and brown, though not as long as Integra's. She took a few more steps into the dark alley, calling for the dog.

"Nikki…" the boy trailed off as he followed the girl. He wore glasses over chocolate-colored eyes and his shaggy black hair flopped almost into those eyes.

"James," replied the girl as she continued to walk deeper into the alley.

As they got closer, Integra noticed that both of them were carrying heavy backpacks.

"Doggy!" cried the girl, Nikki, as she drew close enough to see the great black dog. "And… who are you?" she asked as she spotted Integra.

"I-I'm Integra," stammered Integra.

"Did you run away from home too?" asked the girl.

"Something like that," said Integra, not sure if she trusted this pair yet. "Who are you two, anyway?"

"Nichole Porter," said the girl with a grin. "But you can call me Nikki. James does."

"I'm James Sanders," said the boy.

"James and I are going to get married some day," announced Nikki as she hugged James around the waist.

Integra simply stared at the odd pair.

"We're running away from home," said James. "Our families don't like each other, but we're best friends and we got tired of always being separated, so we ran away. Would you like to come with us, Integra?" James offered his hand to Integra, a small smile lighting his face.

For a moment, Integra considered her options. After a quick mental debate, she took James's hand. "I would."

"Let's go, then," said Nikki.

With that, the three children and the dog traveled through the city, keeping to back alleys and disused roads. Eventually, they stopped and spent the night in a warehouse. Nikki and James slept in a corner together, covered in blankets they had brought while Integra used the dog as a pillow, curled beneath one of Nikki and James's spare blankets.

Meanwhile, in the Hellsing manor, Richard glared at the young Alucard, who was sitting boredly in a chair playing with its hair.

"I order you to go find her," snapped Richard.

Alucard simply smirked. "You are not my master. I will do nothing for you. It's only the seals that keep me from eating you."

Richard continued to glare at the infuriating child as Alucard's expression changed from a smirk to a toothy grin.

Richard was so very fun to annoy, in Alucard's opinion.

The children didn't stay long in the warehouse after dawn. They lingered only to eat a quick breakfast and then they were on their way through the city. They had to keep moving.

Near dusk, the children ran into a spot of trouble in the form of Richard himself. One of his men had spotted the children and dog walking along and called him.

"Hey, who's he?" asked Nikki as she stared up at Richard.

"Uncle!" cried Integra, caught between shying behind her big canine companion and glaring at her uncle.

"Come, Integra," growled her uncle. "We have business to attend to. You've made quite a mess of things."

"No!" said Integra, stamping her foot on the pavement.

"Integra, now!" hissed Richard as he reached for her arm to drag her away.

"You will not touch my master," said a cold voice from behind Integra. Where the big black dog had once stood there was now a tall, black-haired man in a red hat and coat with odd sunglasses.

Richard paused for only a second to stare at Alucard's true form before grabbing Integra by the arm and dragging her away.

"I said, don't touch her," said Alucard. He now stood in front of Richard and Integra. Alucard reached out with one hand and ripped Richard's arm off of Integra's and out of its socket, causing Richard to scream in pain as his arm went from being a usable limb to hanging limply and painfully at his side.

"Damn vampire," spat Richard as he drew a gun with his good arm.

So fast that the two young human onlookers barely saw, Alucard had pulled Integra behind him.

It was then that Richard started shooting, causing Nikki and James to take shelter behind Alucard as well. Richard's shots, in his fury, were going wild and were in danger of hitting the pair.

With one casually-aimed bullet, Alucard blew Richard's good hand off.

"Integra," called the vampire. "You should do the honors." From the depths of his coat, he produced a small handgun and pressed it into Integra's small hands. "You two!" Alucard called to the children behind him. "Hold him steady. We don't want him running off, now do we?"

Even as the vampire spoke, Richard was taking shaky steps away.

Though afraid, Nikki and James nodded and grabbed Richard, turning him to face Integra.

"Aim for the heart or the head," said Alucard with a wicked grin. "Don't shake; if you do, you might hit one of your friends."

The shocked Integra could only nod as she aimed for her uncle's head.

"Think about what he has done to the people who tried to help you," whispered Alucard in her ear. "Peachtree is in jail and O'Connor is dead. He was planning to kill you. He put your little friends in danger…"

Integra's eyes narrowed as she pulled the trigger.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"Penny for your thoughts, Master?" inquired Alucard as he phased into Integra's office.

"Just thinking about that day sixteen years ago…" she trailed off, still remembering. Miss Peachtree had been let out of jail and later hired as Integra's personal tutor. Nikki and James became Integra's greatest friends and where hired by Hellsing when they turned eighteen. Max O'Connor, or has Integra had known him, 'Gray Otter', was given a hero's funeral for defending the heir of Hellsing to the death even though he barely knew her.

"Ah," said Alucard as he took a seat on her desk.

"Get off my paperwork, you oaf," grumbled Integra.

Alucard laughed but did as Integra wished.

Suddenly, a small raven-haired figure who couldn't be older than four burst into Integra's office.

"Auntie-Tegraaaaa!" called the child as she raced into the room. "Mum and Da are back! So is Auntie Seras." She paused for a moment when she noticed Alucard was in the room as well. "Oh, hi Uncle Allycard."

"Holly," came an exasperated male voice from the hall, "how many times have we told you not to bother Aunt Integra while she's working?"

"Um…" Holly trailed off as her parents walked in followed by Seras Victoria, a young blond police girl-turned-vampire in the service of Hellsing.

"It's quite alright. I take it things got a little rough?" inquired Integra as she noticed that Nikki was leaning against James and that there was a bloody cut on her head.

"No rougher than usual," said Nikki. "Just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Though the pair were older and battle-worn, they were still the same couple that had found Integra while she was lost and alone and been her friends and mentors as Integra grew. True to their word, at twenty-two the two were married with then-sixteen year old Integra as Nikki's bridesmaid. At twenty-four (Integra's eighteen), Holly was born and Integra was named godmother.

"Seras can give the report. James, take Nikki to the infirmary to get that cut looked at."

James nodded as he and Nikki left, followed closely by little Holly.

Seras gave her report and she left as well, leaving Integra and Alucard alone in Integra's office.


End file.
